Pretty Little Framed Purses

Hi there! I am Kristie from OCD: obsessive crafting disorder. It is great to be here today to share my recipe for some cute little framed coin purses and clutches, made from none other than charm packs and layer cakes!

Charm pack squares are the perfect size to whip up some sweet little coin purses like these:
And you can use a layer cake for the larger clutch sized version to take out on the town.

So, let’s get started!

Per coin purse:
-4 charms squares ( I used these cute little prints from Little Apples by Aneela Hoey), 2 matching for the lining, and 2 matching for the exterior. Alternatively, for the exterior of the coin purse you can use several charms to cut apart and piece back together to create your own fun design, just be sure that they finish up 5 inches by 5 inches square, OR you can fussy cut 5 by 5 inch squares from a slice of layer cake!

Per clutch bag:
– 2 slices of layer cake (shown here in the lovely Ruby by Bonnie and Camille), one for the exterior and one for the lining. Again, feel free to use extra slices to make a patchwork that finishes 10 by 10 inches. You may want to use some other bits as embellishments, like the shabby chic flower added to my clutch (see “garnishes” below).

– one 10 x 10 inch piece of lightweight fusible interfacing

– one 10 x 10 inch piece of medium or heavy weight interfacing (sew in or fusible) OR quilt batting

*For both projects, you will also require some adhesive (mine was purchased here) as well as a long thin object (such as a butter knife) to be used to help insert the purse in the frame. It will get full of glue, so don’t use anything too precious

Embellishments are a fun addition to your clutch or coin purse. Be creative! You could add hand stitching, buttons, lace, ribbon, ric rac, and so on. Endless possibilities!

1. Prep work
Iron the lightweight fusible interfacing to the wrong side of the 2 outer charm squares (for the coin purses) or the outer layer cake slice (for the clutch). If your medium weight interfacing is also fusible, iron it to the other side of the lightweight interfacing as well.2. Make a template
You will need to make a customized template to correspond with your purse frame. Easy!

For the coin purse (3 inch frame):
Grab one charm and fold in half vertically. Center your frame at the top of the folded edge, 1/4 inch down from top edge. Draw a line, following the contour of your frame, but 1/4 inch out to be your seam allowance. where the frame ends, extend in a line to the bottom corner. Cut.
In addition, you may wish to round your bottom corners while it is still folded in half so that they are a mirror image.
Use this piece as your template! Now fold the remaining outer, lining, and interfacing pieces in half and cut to match.

For the clutch purse (8 inch frame):
Fold layer cake fabric for outer in half top horizontally, then again vertically to make a 5 inch square.For 6″ rectangle frame- mark a spot 1.75 inches from outer corners and cut towards bottom folded corner.

Round corners, etc as described for coin purse and use this piece as your template. However, do NOT round bottom corners of clutch. Fold and cut remaining lining and interfacing pieces to match.

Note- if you want to add interior pocket or labels to your bags, do so at this time.

3. Time to sew the bags!

For both sized purses:
a) Unfold vertical folds (i.e. completely unfold for charms/coin purses, but keep horizontal fold in place for clutch bag). Hold your frame over the top portion of the outer and lining fabrics, and mark a line on the wrong side that corresponds with the bottom edge of the frame hinge.

For coin purse:
Place exterior pieces, right sides together, with interfacing on the outside. Sew, stopping at marked line. For coin purses, you will sew from marking to bottom corner, then across bottom and up again to second marking. The top remains unsewn.For clutch:
The bottom edge is folded fabric, so you will only need to sew 2 short lines from the bottom corners up to the markings.
Repeat for lining pieces.

For clutch only:
Square off corners by aligning side seam with bottom fold as shown, and making a perpendicular line 3/4 inch from the corner.

Sew along the line, and trim off excess, leaving a 1/4 inch seam.When you turn it right side out, your corners will be boxed, like this:Repeat for second corner, and again for both corners of the lining piece.

b) For both bag styles: Invert exterior bag right side out, and slide inside of the lining bag, which remains inside out such that right sides of exterior and lining are facing each other.
Sew around top edges of the bag to join lining and outer, leaving a small opening at one of the top edges.
Use this opening to invert the bag right side out. You may want to use a blunt object, such as a chopstick, to press out the corners and edges. Press edges.
c) Tuck raw edges of opening inward and sew with a small 1/8 inch seam to close.

4. Time to attach the frame!
Apply a thin bead of glue to the inside of one half of the frame. You really don’t need a lot and too much will gush out and stain your fabrics, so be conservative!
Lay the glued side flat on a surface protected with paper. Center one side of the bag below it, then gently push fabric upwards into the channel of the frame. Use edge of butter knife (I am using a Whiltsire- I like to live dangerously!) to tuck fabric into the frame.
Flip the bag over to ensure that both sides are inserted neatly and evenly, and quickly wipe off excess glue on the fabric or metal frame. Work quickly and continue until all edges are concealed in the frame channel.
Take a mini break to let the glue adhere. Check your email. Read my blog Have a snack. Maybe some chocolate?

Back at it! Repeat for the other side of the frame.

Let the glue dry for a few hours or overnight.
Your finished bag will look like this:Want to embellish it?
I added a flower- I cut one 3″ circle, a 2″ circle and a 1.5″ circle and stacked them I put mine through the washer and drier to shabby them up a bit Then, I found a pretty little sparkly button and sewed it onto the front of the bag. Easy as that!
Voila! One pretty frame purse just for you!
Keep making your way through that charm pack or layer cake and you will have a stack of them ready in no time! The clutch is a perfect gift for the girlfriends, and the coin purses are much loved by the little ones…especially if you add a few coins in there for them!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! I would love to see what you made, so please be sure to add them to my Flickr group!

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The individual designers featured on this website ultimately hold the copyright for their projects and designs posted on the Moda Bake Shop. Patterns are not intended for sale or digital distribution. All items made from Moda Bake Shop patterns are for personal, non-commercial use only, unless given explicit written permission from the design owner to sell finished products made from their pattern tutorials featured on the Moda Bake Shop.